Means for loading hoppers of filling-replenishing looms.



No. 802,533. PATENTED 00T. 24, 1905. E; S. STIMPSON.

MEANS FOR LOADING HOPPERS 0F FILLING REPLENISHING LOOMS.

APPLIOATION FILED J'ULY 7, 1905.

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EDVARD S. STIMPSN, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO DRAPERCUMPANY, OF HOPEDALE, MASSACHUSEIVTS, A CORPORA- TION 0F MAINE.

MEANS FOR LOADING HOPPERS OF FlLLlNG-REPLENISHING LOONIS.

' Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 24, 1905.

Application filed July 7, 1905. Serial No. 268,642.

To all tui/1,0m it may concern.-

Be it known that I, EDWARD S. S'rnvirsoN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Hopedale, county of Worcester, State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Means for Loading Hoppersof Filling-Replenishing Looms, of which tliefollowing description, inconnection with the accompanying' drawings, isa specification, likecharacters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object the production of means forfacilitating' the loading' of the filling-feeders or hoppers ofautomatic looms of the Northrop type, such as are shown in the UnitedStates patent to Northrop, No. 529,940, and other patents of later date.In Such looms the hopper comprises two connected and rotatable disks,one of' which is provided with a series of peripheral pockets open attheir outer ends to receive the butts of the filling-carriers orbobbins, the other disk carrying an oppositely-located series oftip-holders controlled by springs to yieldingly eng'age the tips of thefilling-carriers, which are thus held in a cireularly-arrang'ed series.Means are provided to rotate the hopper intermittingly to bring theiilling-carriers one by one into position to be transferred to theshuttle, all in a well-known manner. A fixed flange on the hopper-standoverhang's the open ends of the pockets and serves to prevent anyaccidental removal of the filling-carriers before the proper time. Theattendant loads the hopper by inserting the illing-carriers one by one,first inserting' the butt in a pocket within the flange and then pushesdown the tip into cng'agement with the tip-holder opposite until asufiicient load is held by the hopper.

My present invention has for its object the production of means forfacilitating' the loading operation, whereby a gang' or severallilling-carriers may be simultaneously inserted in the hopper as easilyand quickly as one can now be inserted. This I accomplish by means of aloading' device which temporarily sustains a plurality offilling-carriers in such position that they can by Very slightmanipulation be readily inserted simultaneously in the hopper, afterwhich the loading device is withdrawn by an end wise movement, myinvention requiring no chang'e or alteration in the construction orarrangement of the hopper or in the construction of the filling-carriersthemselves.

The various novel features of my invention will be fully described inthe subjoined specification, and particularly pointed out in thefollowing claims.

Fig'ure 1 is a top plan view of a sufficient portion of a hopper of thetype described to be understood, showing' a plurality or gang offilling-carriers being placed therein by means of a loading' deviceembodying' my invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the irregularline 2 2, Fig. 1, showing' the filling-carrier and the handle of theloading device iu elevation. Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of theloading device. Fig. t shows a face View and longitudinal section of'one ofthe ti p-holders detached and enlarged with which the hopper isprovided, and Fig. 5 isa detail of the loadingdevice as it would appearif viewed from the left, Figs. l and 2.

Referring to Fig. 1, the hopper-stand A7, mounted on the breast-beam Ai0of the loom, the connected disks t a', Fig'. 2, the former having' aseries of open-ended pockets, as 2, around its periphery for the buttsmx of the filling-carriers m, the flange c on the stand and overhangingthe open ends of the pockets 2 throughout the greater part of theperiphery of disk (t, may be and are of Wellknown construction inNorthrop looms. I have herein shown the disk a as provided withtip-holders LX, mounted to rock on the lip or flang'e a on the disk andpressed inward b v springs. as NX, Fig. 2, substantially as in theUnited States patent to Stimpson, No. 755,252, dated March 22, 1904, asthe tipholder therein shown is readily operative in connection with theloading' device to be described. The socket or seat it* in the upper endor head of each tip-holder receives the tip m/ of the filling-carrier orbobbin when the butt arf/X thereof is inserted in the opposite pocket,as will be understood by those familiar with such apparatus, and thehead of each tip-holder is notched, as at Ztl", for the filling' end tolead through to the disk or end-holding plate f. (See dotted lines, Fig.1.) I have not shown any of the tip-holders in Fig'. 1, inasmuch as theywould confuse the drawing.

In accordance with present practice the operative takes up a bobbin,inserts the butt beneath the fiange c into an empty pocket, and thenpushes the tip down into operative engagement with the oppositetip-holder, after which the filling' end is carried over to theend-holding disk Z22 and secured. By means of' my present invention I amenabled to insert simultaneously a group or gang ofl filling-carriersinto the hopper as rapidly as one is now inserted. To this end I providea curved base-piece 3, Fig. 5, having a handle 4 rigidly secured to itand projecting from one side thereof, the base-piece corresponding' incurvature to the curvature of the hopper-disk a. On the side of' thebase-piece opposite the handle are a series of pins or supports 5,herein shown as five in number, equidistant from each other and inparallelism and of such diameter that they will loosely enter the tipends of and support a like number of filling-carriers with their buttsoutward.

In Fig. l the group of filling-carriers are shown on the loading devicejust after the butts have been inserted in the pockets of thebuttfholding disk a', and the right hand of the operative is shown indotted lines grasping the handle, while the left hand presses down thegroup or gang of bobbins into engagement with the tip-holders LX.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the inner end of each support 5 is bentupward, as at 6, and then into parallelism with the main portion of thesugport under the overhanging iiange 7, which forms a part ofl andstrengthens the base-piece 3. This upward bend to the inner ends of thesupports serves to clear the portions of the hopperdisLv between thetip-holders LX, and it also serves to form a stop for the tip end of thebobbin on each support, positioning' them with their butts substantiallyin the same plane, so that all can be inserted in a correspondingnumberof' pocketsI By clearing the periphery of the disk the body portions ofthe supports can be depressed suiiiciently to bring the bobbin-tips intoengagement with the recessed inner faces of the tip-holders, as in Fig.2, and as the operator with the right hand draws the loading device tothe right, Figs. l and 2, with an endwise movement the left hand pressesor snaps the several tips into the seats it* and the loading iscompleted. rIhe filling ends are then carried over disk 52 and fastened.

Of' course the full quota of' bobbins need not be used; but I have foundthat five is a convenient number to handle and insert as a group intothe hopper.

In preparing the loading' device it is held in the right hand with thesupports 5 upturned, and the bobbins are slipped on tips down, a matterof a few seconds, after which they are loaded into the hopper.

My invention requires no change in the hopper, and hence can be usedwith the hoppers of looms now in use and of the type hereinbe'f'orereferred to.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-H l. In a loom, a rotatable hoppercomprising two connected disks, one having a circularly-arranged seriesof' butt-receiving pockets and the other having oppositely-locatedtip-holders, for the filling-carriers, a fixed iiange overhanging theouter ends of the pockets, and a removable gang-loader comprising' aseries of parallel, rigidly-connected supports each adapted to looselysustain a Ellingcarrier butt outward, and an attached handle, wherebythe butt-ends of a plurality of filling-carriers can be simultaneouslyinserted beneath the flange in the pockets of the hopper and their tipends depressed into engagement with the tip-holders, withdrawal ofl theloading device longitudinally of the fillingcarriers leaving the same inthe hopper.

2. In a loom, a rotatable hopper having butt-receiving pockets andopposite tip-holders, for the butts and tips respectively of acircularly-arranged series of filling-carriers, and a removable loadingdevice comprising a base-piece curved to correspond to the series of'holding means on the hopper, a series of parallel supports rigidlymounted on said base-piece and each adapted to loosely sustain afilling-carrier butt outward, and an oppositely-eXtended handle on thebase-piece, whereby the butts of a plurality of filling'- carriers maybe seated in the pockets and their tips depressed into engagement withthe opposite tip-holders before withdrawal of the loading device.

3. In a loom, a rotatable hopper having' butt-receiving pockets andopposite tip-holders, for the butts and tips respectively of acircularly-arranged series of filling-carriers, and a removable loadingdevice having means to loosely sustain a plurality of' filling-carriersbutts outward in position to be seated in the pockets and thereafterhave their tips depressed into engagement with the tip-holders.

li. In a loom, a rotatable hopper having' butt-receiving' pockets andopposite tip-holders, for the butts and tips respectively of acircularly-arranged series of' filling-carriers, and a removable loadingdevice having means to loosely sustain a plurality of filling-carriersbutts outward side by side in position to have their buttssimultaneously seated in a corresponding number of pockets and theirtips depressed into the tip-holders opposite thereto.

5. A loading device for inserting a plurality of' filling-carriers intothe butt and tip holding devices of the rotatable hopper of a loom,comprising a curved base-piece having an attached handle, and on theopposite side of the base-piece a series of parallel supports IOO IIO

suesse adapted to loosely enter the tip ends of the idling-carriers, totemporarily support the seine when they are simultaneously seated in acorresponding number of butt and tip holding devices of the hopper.

(5. A loading' device for inserting' e plurality of filling-carriersinto the butt and tip holding,l devices of the rotatable hopper of eloom, comprisinga curved base-piece having an attached handle,projecting from one side,

-end on the opposite side a series of rigidlyettached, parallel supportsto loosely enter the tip ends of the filling-carriers, to tempo- GEORGEOTIs DRAPIJR, ERNEST lV. lV OOD.

